Our group is principally concerned with the molecular biology of HIV pathogenesis, especially the pathogenesis of pediatric HIV disease. The course of HIV disease in pediatric patients differs substantially from the course of disease in adults. Because some of the factors that help modulate the course of HIV disease depend on the host and host cells, we are therefore particularly interested in trying to understand the involvement of host cell factors in HIV replication and the effect of HIV infection on the host cell. The hypothesis guiding much of our work holds that there is one set of cellular conditions that is ideal for normal cellular growth and replication, that another set of conditions is ideal for viral replication, and that viruses (particularly HIV) have evolved ways of altering their host cells to enhance viral replication.